Monday, May 23, 2011

The Wonderful World of the French Language

I was recently asked for a list of my favorite resources for French language learning. For better or worse, I use electronics now more than textbooks and anything made of paper products. Gathering together all my stuff, this is what I came up with. A huge part of the ease of learning this way is due to the iphone/ipod/ipad. And use of the apps and podcasts is dependent on them. Of course, this long list does not even come close to being exhaustive of all that is available out there in cyberspace with which to learn French, at every level. Isn't technology grand?

Podcasts (subscribe through itunes, all free):One Thing in a French Day (short stories of daily life in Paris by a sweet-voiced Parisienne; she includes transcripts for reading along)RFI - Apprendre le francais (news bits and descriptions in French of meanings of French words)Coffee Break French (this is the only one that is possibly easy enough for a true beginner, but not really)Learn French by Podcast (generally more advanced than Coffee Break French, with much use of idioms)Le Masque et La Plume (criticism of books, movies or theater, weekly radio show on France Inter)

This should be enough to get fully immersed in French without needing a passport! It's such a great pleasure to even be able to peek through this portal into French culture and perspective on everything from world issues to style through a bit of language understanding. Of course, now that I've gotten started, I can't stop!